14 Ashan 719 | Balthazar Black | Outside Yaralon
Balthazar had gone a little farther this trial than the trials before because he was searching for a large enough body of water for him to theoretically swim in. He didn't have any intention of actually swimming but he needed a body of water to practice his Defiance today. The last three trials had proven disastrous when Balthazar attempted to dance with the water but when he awoke in the morning this trial, he felt as if something in him had smoothed out. The knot in his stomach was gone and the numbness was too for the most part. Balthazar was still adjusting to having full feeling in his hand again. He hoped that the passing feelings were an indication that it would be safe for him to practice with water again but he was somewhat afraid he would be wrong.
Balthazar went out of Yaralon's Gold Gate for the first time since he had decided to live in the city. He'd never been down by the harbor but made a note to visit it on a day when he did not have training planned. All of Yaralon was lively but the harbor seemed to have a few places Balthazar could sit down and enjoy a book. Eventually Balthazar passed through the harbor and made his way towards the Crags where he faced another unfortunate task. He needed to find a way down to the water. Balthazar looked to his left and his right but only saw cliffs stretching into the distance. He sighed and took a few dozen steps back. Balthazar was barefoot- as he tended to be on his ventures outside the city- and so he could feel the difference in the rocks beneath his feet. He'd read in Yaralon that the Crags were made of shale. His feet- or the feelings of the earth shifting beneath him- were telling him that shale was a weaker rock than most.
"Please work." Balthazar mumbled to himself as he knelt down and placed both his hands on the floor. He was going to try and move the earth but paused when he realized he was doing it all wrong. Balthazar had spent many trials now working on either his martial skills or his Defiance magic but his ultimate goal was to blend the two into one. He wouldn't ever be able to do that if he didn't start now. Besides, Balthazar had already figured out that it drew on his ether less to guide his coaxing of the elements with body movement. Balthazar knelt down and took a deep breath. He breathed in through his nose and as he breathed out he jabbed towards the ground quickly, trying to coax it into softening enough to collapse but it did not.
All that happened was Balthazar punched the dirt twice and chipped a bit off. As Balthazar nursed his knuckles he realized what he'd done wrong. Fire was not earth and you could not treat them the same way. Fire was energy and power. It was wild and fast, always burning. The earth was rigid and strong. It was not fire. Balthazar stood and adjusted his feet so they were a little further apart. Then he took a deep breath and focused on the feeling of the dirt beneath his feet. Balthazar raised his forearms and brought them together as he stomped his right foot. Then he slowly drew them apart as he channeled his ether into getting the shale to soften. Balthazar felt the rocks weaken but they did not give way. Balthazar almost did though. His body dropped slightly before Balthazar caught himself and steadied his footing. With his stance prepared and his head aching, Balthazar moved to continue.
"Please just one more time." Balthazar mumbled to himself as he stumbled back a few steps from the partially soften cliff side chunk. Balthazar took a second to get over the headache he was beginning to feel. Then he turned his body side face to the weakened shale and raised his right knee into the air. Then he slammed it down towards the weakened cliff. He channeled his ether through his foot into the earth to soften it further. This time the small chunk of cliff side gave way and small chunks of shale rained down to the coast cleaving a slide like path. It was fortunate that happened too because Balthazar's returning headache quickly sent him stumbling onto the slide.
Balthazar really rolled down the slope. It wasn't much like sliding at all but at least it wasn't the free fall it would have been it he didn't dig out the chunk of dirt. When he reached the bottom he immediately notices the stench of rotting wood. It would make meditating more difficult but not impossible. Balthazar liked to mediate before he intentionally stretched the limits of his defiance because it helped him clear his mind. He found that is was easier to coax elements with a mind free of distractions. Balthazar walked to place where the water met the sand and decided that the waves here were too big for him to meditate soundly so he walked a little ways away from the water and sat with his legs crossed.
Balthazar closed his eyes and began breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth. As he did the smell or rotting wood returned and made him want to gag but Balthazar didn't. He tried to leg go of the smell but he could not. Balthazar raised his right hand and moved it in a gentle circular motion to coax a breeze around himself. The breeze helped to lessen the stench and that helped Balthazar to clear his mind. Balthazar relaxed his body and as his lungs emptied, so to did his mind. Balthazar listened to the sound of the waves in the distance and he reached out to them. He focused on the sound of the waves crashing and tried to intensify it. The sound did grow louder. Balthazar- in his clear mental state- imagined the waves reaching further onto the shore, reaching for him.
Balthazar reached out with his ether and focused on that image of the waves reaching into the shore. He could hear the sound growing closer as he imagined it in his mind. Closer and closer. Suddenly a wave slammed into Balthazar. It knocked him over and then washed away as if it had ever been there. For some reason it felt relieving for Balthazar to feel the water wash over him. For three trials, water had scorned him in the most inconvenient of ways but something told Balthazar it was over. That was the parting note in his little spat with the element. He got up and coaxed the water from his clothing. Then he gathered his hair and began running his hands along it. As he did the water drained out and collected into a ball a few feet away from Balthazar. Once his hair was dry Balthazar tried to manipulate the shape of the water ball. A simple thought combined with the appropriate ether turned the ball into a cube. Balthazar drew his hand back slowly and then moved it around the air in a fluid motion. As he did the cube of water began to move along with him. Balthazar continued to movements for a few more trills and then allowed the water to fall to the sand.
Balthazar saw that the waterline had returned to its original position and he shook his head. All that effort and he didn't even get to see the result of what he had done. He was alright with it though. Something about that wave felt cleansing. He felt that water had forgiven him and that was comfort enough. Balthazar did not know when he would take the time to make this trip again. The smell wasn't the best and it had been a dangerous way down. Perhaps the view and seclusion were not worth it. Balthazar was a little saddened to think that he wouldn't return here for some time but that was life. As a parting gesture, Balthazar bowed to the sea. He didn't think anything of it. So he was certainly surprised to hear applause behind him.
"Well done, mage. Quite the show."
